By The Fire
by SylvaDragon
Summary: Voldemort is defeated, Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore are talking about the latest Harry Potter book. A humourous look at how they might react. Dumbledore has a theory which explains why he is so differently portrayed in the Deathly Hallows.


**_Author's Notes_**

_I set this story 19 years after Voldemort's defeat because I wanted to have a little dig at the epilogue in Deathly Hallows. So, in my story the Harry Potter books are first published several years after the events actually happened, I hope that doesn't confuse anyone too much. I've tried to make my portrayal of Dumbledore as close as possible to how he is in books 1-5, but with a bit of added warmth and more able to show his caring for Harry. There's quite alot of humour in this story and, some bits which show the closeness of Harry and Dumbledore. It's the first fanfic I've ever written._

19 years after Voldemort's defeat :-

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, sat in a comfortable armchair in his study absentmindedly stroking Fawkes and gazing into the fire. Suddenly he heard footsteps pounding up the stairs.

"Lemondrops !" said a familliar voice, "Oh bugger it ! Why's he always changing the damm password, I swear he does it to annoy", grumbled the voice and then began to reel off a list of all Dumbledore's favourite candys.

Chuckling to himself Dumbledore opened the door of his study and saw the defence against dark arts professor aim a frustrated kick at the stone gargoyle guarding the stairs. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily and his mouth twitched as he said "Harry, my dear boy ...ahem man, do come in and please stop kicking my gargoyle, they have been known to kick back on occassion you know."

"Albus !" began Harry Potter heatedly "You'll never guess what that blasted woman has done now ..."

"May I offer you a lemon drop Harry ? I find them most soothing, quite delightfull really." Dumbledore beamed at Harry serenly and beckoned him to a chair by the fire, while Harry glared at him in mild exasperation. As the thought crossed his mind that at times Albus Dumbledore could be rather irritating, after all how on earth did the man always manage to remain so calm, so serene ? Despite himself Harry smiled fondly at the old man and took a seat opposite him.

"Now Harry, please do explain. Whatever has this woman done and which woman do we refer to anyway ?"

"To that blasted muggle woman you let write the history of Voldemort's return and defeat of course" grumbled Harry, "Though it's more like a work of fiction than fact, and why on earth does she have to make me out to be some kind of hero when ..."

"Now, now Harry, pray do not do yourself a disservice" said Dumbledore patting him fondly on the knee, "The first five books are really very accurate indeed, and she is indeed correct to portray you as brave, kind and ..."

"Albus, please ...really you know I'm nothing special. Anyone would have done what I did" muttered Harry turning a vivid pink.

Smiling fondly at him Dumbledore thought how remarkable it was that the young man before him still retained his natural modesty despite everything. Dumbledore remembered with pride how the 17 year old Harry had faced Voldemort in the final confrontation, how he had defeated him with an ancient and timeless power which even the power of Voldemort's dark magic could not stand against. How the power of love had finally conquered Voldemort. Albus wished very much to tell Harry how proud he was of him, but he knew it would only embarrass the young man further at this time. So he said nothing and simply looked at Harry with pride and love written all over his face.

Gradually Harry regained his composure and with typical Gryffindor determination returned to the subject uppermost in his mind. "Bad enough that she killed you off at the end of book six" raged Harry "Any fool can see you're not dead, can't they ?"

"Yes, I do seem to be very much alive don't I ?" Dumbledore pinched himself on the arm as though to make quite sure, "Ouch ! Yes, I would say I am quite definitely not dead, excellent, excellent." Dumbledore smiled happily and his blue eyes sparkled with joy and a hint of laughter.

Harry began to smile despite himself, but was still determined to keep to the main subject of discussion. "Albus really, this is a serious matter, it simply isn't right. The things she says about you, the lies, the insinuations. Bad enough to have some ludicrous story about your sister being dead and you being to blame for it, when we both know your sister is alive and well. But then to portray you as though you were using me, setting me up to be killed."

Momentarilly Dumbledore's eyes lost some of their merry sparkle as he reached out a hand to his friend. "Harry, my dear dear friend, you know that is not true. I always tried to keep you safe and protect you, you were and still are like a grandson to me. If letting Voldemort kill me would have kept you safe then I would have gladly done so."

Harry looked into his beloved ex headmaster's eyes and saw nothing but caring and concern there. Feeling a little guilty for having dampened the old man's cheerful mood he said, "I'm sorry Albus, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that I don't understand why she would write such things. And I thought you ought to know what she is saying about you." Glancing at the table by Dumbledore's chair Harry saw a suspiciously familliar book half hidden under a pile of scrolls. Quickly he seized it and read the title, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. "Albus !!" he said accusingly, "You've read it already haven't you ?"

"Indeed I must confess that I have" said Dumbledore mildly, "I really do find her books most entertaining, if a little inaccurate."

"Wildly inaccurate more like" snapped Harry, "And why didn't you tell me you'd read it, instead of letting me go on and on like that ?"

"Well Harry, as I'm sure you already know, it is best not to bottle things up, much better to talk about things. So I simply let you talk, hoping that it would make you feel better." Albus Dumbledore beamed merrily at Harry, who was glaring at him with more than a hint of exasperation in his green eyes. "Come now my dear Harry, let us not waste time worrying about this. For we are both here, alive and well, and happy, you with that delightfull Weasley girl and three adorable if mischeivious children". Dumbledore smiled fondly and chuckled to himself as he recalled some of the pranks Harry's children had played since starting at Hogwarts. "And Voldemort is finally defeated, the world a much brighter place without such evil," continued Dumbledore. "Besides which, I very much doubt that Deathly Hallows was the work of 'that blasted woman', as I belive you called her earlier."

"What ?! What do you mean ?!" said Harry nearly choking on the lemondrop he'd been sucking.

"My dear Harry, if you will examine the book again you will see that much of it is written in the style of Rita Skeeter, and we both know that she delights in spreading scandal and untruth. It seems to me entirely probable that dear Miss Skeeter somehow replaced the author's quill or whatever muggles use with a jinxed one. Or perhaps she cast some kind of charm on the author which let her controll what was written. I would certainly guess at something similar happening, and being prodigiously clever my guesses are nearly always correct. " Dumbledore steepled his fingers together and peered benignly at Harry over his half moon spectacles waiting calmly for Harry's response.

For a few minutes Harry sat stunned, unsure what to think or say. Of course, he thought to himself, it all makes perfect sense, Rita Skeeter has delighted in spreading scandal particularly about Dumbledore and me. Harry knew that like most of Dumbledore's guesses this one was almost certainly correct. "Albus, shouldn't we do something about this, we can't just let Rita Skeeter get away with this."

"Well I suppose we could send her some exploding trifles from Weasley's Wizardly Wheezes, unless you have a better idea. Doubtless your children could make some helpfull suggestions, they do seem to have an extremely detailed knowledgeof the entire stock of Weasley's Wizardly Wheezes. I do wish the same could be said for their lessons." Albus tried hard to look like the typical stern headmaster, but only suceeded in looking like a typical doting grandfather who delighted in everything his grandchildren did.

"Now Albus stop trying to change the subject, something must be done, the truth should be written."

"Harry, you and I know the truth, as do our family and friends, those who love us and trust us. Is that not sufficient ?"

"But ...but... to spread lies...to make them believe that you ..." Harry spluttered indignantly.

"Harry, Harry, my dear friend, please do calm yourself" Dumbledore reached forward and patted Harry's arm gently.

"Muggles won't know the truth, they only know you through the books, and now they'll believe that ..." Harry Potter came to a halt as words failed him.

"Harry, muggles are not quite so foolish or easily fooled as you seem to think. Not all will believe what Rita Skeeter has written, some will, but others will know the truth in their hearts. Why, even now some of them write the true story on that strange thing muggles call the outernet, I believe that is the correct term is it not." The old man smiled contentedly pleased with his own cleverness. "Perhaps we could have a magical version of it, yes, yes it could be done using the existing firecall network. "

Harry sighed softly, Albus Dumbledore just radiated calmness, kindness, and sheer good humour, it was practically impossible to be angry or upset around him. After all he knew the truth, he knew that Dumbledore had always cared for him and protected him, always loved him like a grandson. That was all that really mattered. Harry settled back comfortably, while the portraits on the walls slumbered gently and the stars began to shine in the darkening sky, just as the golden stars on Dumbledore's robe shone.

THE END

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story, I'm still learning how to do things on this site so bear with me if I make any mistakes. _

_For example I'm still not sure whether to answer reviews here, since it's only a oneshot story, or use reply feature. I worry too much lol._

_Anyway it's wonderful to know that people like my story._


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